Exploring Los Angeles

After taking the tour with my whole family, I arrived back in Los Angeles and got to do some exploring whilst I was there. I first visited Ronald Reagan's Presidential Foundation and Library in Simi Valley. It was very interesting to learn about the Reagan and his life and the surrounding area was so beautiful and had some amazing views.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

I also visited Venice Beach for the first time and it was fun walking along the beach to look at the art and different little stores. It was a very unique experience and a must visit when in Los Angeles!
                    
    
        

Holiday Travels

Over the holiday break, my family and I decided to have a huge family reunion and go on a tour together. The first stop was the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. There were a lot of rocks. The Valley of Fire is actually Nevada's oldest and largest state park and gets its name from the red sandstones.

After taking many, many pictures, we headed off to Las Vegas to stay the night at The Stratosphere hotel. Going all the way to the top of the hotel, The Stratosphere has such an amazing view of the Las Vegas Strip. It's amazing how illuminated Las Vegas is compared to everything else.

The next morning, we traveled to the Hoover Dam and Zion National Park in Utah, i.e. more rocks. The Zion National Park is Utah's first national park and is really beautiful this time of year. It had just snowed the night before so there was still some snow on the ground to play with, enough to make a Southern California girl's heart content.

Later that night, we traveled back to Las Vegas and took a walk down The Strip. It was too late to go to any shows but we did get to see the water show at the Bellagio and the volcano show at the Mirage.

Overall, there were many rocks to see but it was nice to see everyone in my family, some of whom I have not seen in years! It was a great little break before heading back to school and classes. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and happy 2014! I look forward to greater, bigger, and better opportunities and experiences this year!